Kentucky's efforts to overhaul its public education system are being put to their first test. Across the state, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren are taking new tests as part of the annual spring exam ritual. Both the assessments and the results expected this fall are history in the making.
Kentucky education commissioner Terry Holliday says the average scores are expected to be somewhere in the 50 percent range as students adjust. Many students in grades 3 through 8 this week are taking the new Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress tests. High schoolers have been taking new "End-of-Course Exams" in English II, Algebra II, Biology and U.S. History. Results are expected in September and will be used as part of a five-part system to judge a school's performance.
